Previous UP govts did not pay heed to encephalitis as affected kids were poor: Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Monday alleged that previous governments did not pay heed on checking acute encephalitis as the kids affected by the disease belonged to poor and deprived families.

"Since 1978, communicable disease acute encephalitis syndrome started spreading in different districts of the eastern UP but previous governments didn't pay attention to its treatment because the kids belonged to poor and deprived families," the chief minister said.

Inaugurating the second phase of the Communicable Disease Control and Dastak Abhiyan 2019 by flagging off vehicles to conduct awareness campaigns and honouring Dastak Yoddhas by awarding them certificates, the CM said the efforts of his government have started yielding favourable results.

The Health Department coordinated with 12 other departments to develop the programme. Combined efforts of the WHO, UNICEF, PATH and public participation have helped in fighting against this disease, Adityanath said.

The campaign was launched last year and since then, we have been successful in reducing the disease burden by 35 per cent and deaths by 65 per cent. This could be achieved as the state government increased the awareness programmes, he said.

Yogi said about 38 districts of the state are affected by encephalitis. Out of these, '18 districts were affected majorly.

"In the first phase, we focused on these 18 districts. After witnessing successful implementation of the campaign in them, we are now implementing the campaign in the rest of the districts," he said.

"I have been raising my voice for the last 21-22 years from the streets to Parliament against this disease", CM Adityanath said.

He added that the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, started after PM Modi came into power, is also very helpful in the fight against encephalitis.

"All 75 districts now have proper facilities for the treatment of communicable diseases like dengue, black fever, malaria etc., in district hospitals," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh said the department is geared up to protect against encephalitis and JE in the state.